F.AVE Media Center

For all my dragon loving friends!

J U S T A N N O U N C E D !

Together with our friends at the Georgia Center for the Book, Little Shop of Stories welcomes Christopher Paolini, creator of the best-selling Eragon series, back to Decatur for a special evening to include conversation, Q and A, and a book signing. Christopher will be sharing Murtagh: Deluxe Edition, which features John Jude Palencar’s iconic art on a revamped cover with: stunning foil effects on the front, spine, and back; luxe red stenciled edges; two brand-new full-color maps drawn by Christopher, a bonus scene featuring Eragon and Murtagh, a new letter from Jeod, two new pieces of b&w art by Christopher, and full-color art of Mt. Arngor.
This event is free to attend and registration is required. A purchase of Murtagh: Deluxe Edition from Little Shop of Stories is required to gain entry to the signing line.

For more information and to register, please visit the link in our IG bio or go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/christopher-paolini-shares-murtagh-deluxe-edition-tickets-1016832793257.

Upcoming Event Alert!!! Jasmine Warga has written the middle grade mystery of our dreams featuring two kids, a ghost, AND an observant turtle! If you have a kiddo who loves mysteries or you enjoyed Jasmine's other middle grade masterpieces, A Rover's Story and Other Words for Home, you'll love A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall as much as we do! Be sure to register on Eventbrite for this super fun author talk + art scavenger hunt with Jasmine and special guest, Aisha Saeed!

When you see one of your students in Oregon over the summer and you guys make plans to twin on the first day of school with t-shirts from Powell’s Books. ❤️

Episode 17: A special double episode of our podcast! 4th grade Anderson shares about his love of historical fiction and branching out into biographies with Who Was Queen Elizabeth? by June Eding. In part two, 3rd grader Colin tells us all about his book, the National Geographic Kids title Absolute Expert on Volcanoes. Warning! We discuss beheadings and lightning volcanoes. Not for the faint of heart!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7K0wb1ccjg8vkKz5FXEJ7t?si=okRi241QQrm-O0cWdRER7g

Episode 16: 3rd grader Harper discusses Born Behind Bars by Pama Venkatraman, a novel of an Indian boy trying to find stability and family in an almost unbelievable situation.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3WYKvBIwzyKZu6TXFNpL1X?si=MIFL-TMRQOGsmb0lYjqGYw

Incredible author visits today at F.AVE! Pablo Cartaya, Leah Henderson, and the legendary Gary Schmidt wowed our 4th and 5th graders. Their new books, A Little Bit Super and Curveball, are must reads. And our kids were the BEST audiences, so proud of them. Can’t wait for James Ponti on Monday and the DCBF this weekend. Thanks to Little Shop for bringing these amazing writers to inspire our kids. I’m so lucky!

This sound amazing! Can’t wait to see the first two books.

The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class began with an invitation to play. In July 2022, I was in the car with my husband and daughter when an email arrived with the subject line “Idea for Kate Messner.” It was from Cheryl Klein, the editorial director at Algonquin Books for Young Readers, sharing a proposal for a new multi-author series about all the kids in one elementary school classroom.

The concept was wildly ambitious. Eighteen kids in the class. Eighteen books published over three years, with a different beloved author writing each book and me taking on the first and last titles. Would I be interested in heading up the series? Beyond writing the two books, I would need to build a team of authors and work collaboratively with them to create the world in which we’d all be writing.

I’d grown quiet on the car ride, so my daughter peeked over my shoulder to see what I was reading. I explained the concept. “That sounds like so much fun!” she said. My husband followed up with, “That sounds like so much work!” (Spoiler: They were both right.)

"17 Authors, 18 Books: The Ambitious Kid Lit Collaboration That Created ‘Mrs. Z’s Class’" by Kate Messner

https://www.slj.com/story/17-Authors-18-Books-ambitious-Kid-Lit-Collaboration-That-Created-Mrs-Zs-Class

4th grader Duncan shares his love for Katherine Applegate's book The One and Only Bob, the second book in her One and Only series. The first book in the series, The One and Only Ivan was the 2013 Newbery Medal winner, and there are now two more books in the series. In our opinion, one of the great series for kids out there today. Take a listen!
https://open.spotify.com/episode/27AQSQvoiVJPYEPZARC1Kx?si=T6SAJZObThWMHo-E0e_cTQ

4th Graders Henry & Hudson discuss Sharon Creech's Moo, a novel in verse. They had some interesting insights to share. Check it out.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2T25oEsMgVmJibgf3y9oAY?si=mk4_6hoYRNOxoVUnnYdzTg

Game Hawker Podcast Episode 11

4th graders Anna, Phoebe, & Sofi earn their balanced badge by discussing the similarities and differences between the original Babysitter's Club novels and the graphic novels. Featured are the titles Kristy's Great Idea and Boy-Crazy Stacey.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5akv7bB9P8q0gMG9iL6rAk?si=NKQE5WinQUmYucwTjCQIPA

4th grader Sylvie discusses a few of classic writer/illustrator Robert McCloskey's books including Make Way for Ducklings, Blueberries for Sal, and Homer Price. Her enthusiasm and love for these stories shines through, and there is a special bonus read aloud by me, Mrs. Smith, because I love Robert McCloskey too.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/06U3DPzqDlPsZqdZzvdt91?si=7s7f4v9nQl6vimVqeae7gw

Russell earned all 7 of our Game Hawker badges! He's been working so hard on these. His podcast episode with Ruby will air in April.

Sylvie got her mom to make her a sash for all her badges, and it's so cute! Next week, her podcast episode all about classic writer/illustrator Robert McCloskey will air. You won't want to miss it!

Episode 9 - F.AVE Game Hawker Podcast in which 4th graders Elinor & Estelle discuss both the original novel and the graphic novel version of Chris Grabenstein's Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library. It's worth a listen, if only to discover what a "breakfast book" is. Enjoy!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4uN6itgg25o5DUN59BvwXu?si=R5ryHVH0QWK2T8fgEynmyQ

Episode 8 - Game Hawker Podcast in which 4th grader Everett earns his Balanced Badge by sharing about his experience reading both the novel and graphic novel The Crossover, by Kwame Alexander. His enthusiasm and love of the poetry really shines through! Take a listen.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4JI1qEtkPY9ndFM4Ijjf3N?si=208gyjhHQ8CieBHXMkxjpQ

Episode 7 of our F.AVE Game Hawkers podcast has posted! Listen to 5th graders Yeats and Lilia discuss their favorite of our reading bowl books. Bonus content from the reading bowl competition.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5XYxobqg4Z8O45ywkzUsxK?si=a-f7SyKdQTe5_4LqO0u11w

Our newest episode of the F.AVE Game Hawkers podcast. This is the first of two (so far) episodes about the books that our reading bowl team read for our competition. 5th graders Carson, Bodie, Emily & Bridget share their favorite books with us. Enjoy!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6m8UDwYEeXqGq7mlL1yTQB?si=QKHf4PZ-SXejbCKtUN2nNA

Game Hawker badges found in the wild! I love that they put them on their backpack. At least one student's mom made them a sash.

And we have our first student who earned all 7 Game Hawker badges! Go Phoebe!

If you'd like to see all the exciting game hawking that has been done by our students, visit our website: https://sites.google.com/csdecatur.net/favegamehawkerchallenge?usp=sharing

Listen to 4th grader Harley talk about how much she loved Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson in another F.AVE Game Hawker podcast episode.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/70dF71utnCxbDPIOi9e2TO?si=dNI7WmyhSEC1b8sN3NZcaA

Our F.AVE Reading Bowl Team is ready to take on Talley Street next week! They are studying hard.

Big News!

Next podcast episode: GR8 Reads Book Club Edition - Wildoak, by C.C. Harrington

Check out the author’s response in the comments!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2WwOZO8t1aJ8hUghyS9mb2

We are debuting a library podcast by kids, for kids called F.AVE Game Hawkers! To find out what it’s all about, listen here. Follow us on Spotify if you want to hear future episodes!

F.AVE Game Hawkers by F.AVE Game Hawkers We are an upper elementary school library in Decatur, GA. This podcast is created mainly by our students to share new books that they discover as they learn to hunt for the less read titles. Join us to see what we are reading!